“Well, I shouldn’t wake you for no reason….”
I threw the hunted bear in an appropriate spot and carefully opened the door of the hut.
However, it seemed there was no need for caution.
The little one was already staring at me with round eyes, a look full of wariness.
“You’re awake.”
“…Who are you?”
It hit me just then, but the kid had blood-red eyes.
Black hair and red irises.
With such an attractive color scheme, it seemed my hypothesis that this little one could be the main character of a novel might actually be correct.
By the way.
“Did you ask who I am?”
Who the heck is this kid, sleeping peacefully in front of someone else’s house?
“I am the owner of this house.”
At those words, the kid seemed to grasp the situation and lowered their head, expressing gratitude.
“Thank you for saving me… um…”
“Yeah.”
Immediately after my response, an awkward silence fell between us.
‘How do you talk to people again…?’
Honestly, after living disconnected from the outside world for several years, even facing someone felt awkward.
Yet, life goes on, I guess.
– Grr…
Just then, the sound from the kid’s stomach broke the awkward silence a bit.
I smiled slightly and asked.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“…Yeah.”
By the way, I’m a lot older, yet this kid is speaking informally. No matter how young they look, they’re quite rude!
However, even if I was in a bad mood, it wasn’t easy to lecture this kid on manners, so I remained silent.
But no matter how upset I was, I couldn’t tell the little one to stop being informal, so I just silently endured it.
Moreover, it’d be troublesome if I got on the wrong side of someone who might be a main character in a novel.
‘Ugh, what a state I’m in….’
Trying to maintain a blank expression, I pointed toward the outside of the hut, where the bear was.
“Well, go ahead and eat.”
It probably sounded a bit cold, but…
Just conversing at all was already worthy of applause.
…Or at least that’s what I thought.
The little one, watching me closely, timidly asked.
“…Aren’t you going to ask anything?”
Oh no, should I have asked who they were first?
It was a bit weird to tell someone living alone in the mountains to just eat.
I might not know if there’s a witch here, but I certainly don’t look like the kind of character who would just eat someone in a story, right?
‘Damn, I should’ve socialized more.’
While wiping the cold sweat off with a quick motion so the kid wouldn’t notice, I pondered how to sort this out.
“Speak when you want to.”
And what I chose was to say something that sounds impressive.
“You don’t look very well.”
Not out of malice or trickery, but I said it with a tone that oozed consideration for them.
‘Do you think I got through that okay?’
I glanced at the kid to gauge their reaction.
“Oh…”
However, contrary to my expectation of them feeling relieved.
“Sniff…”
The kid silently wiped their tears.
‘…What should I do?’
A girl’s tears are a lethal weapon, and similarly, a child’s cries are one too.
Because of their young age, their frail body, and emphasizing it with bony arms and legs.
The sight of them crying, with eyes devoid of vitality, was frankly violent.
Guilt surged within me for no reason at all.
‘Why?!’
If that kid was purposefully trying to discomfort me, then they succeeded.
I floundered helplessly, not knowing what to do in front of the kid who was still crying.
…What did I do wrong?
Do they really think I’m a witch?
That thought made me naturally resemble a crying face myself.
‘…No way.’
Right now, I’m not alone, and in front of someone else, if I appear weak, I could become easy prey.
With those thoughts in mind, I pretended to be as calm as possible while figuring out how to handle the situation.
Suddenly, I recalled something my mother used to say when I cried as a kid.
“It’s okay.”
The moment I remembered that, my body moved reflexively, capturing the little one in my embrace as I gently stroked their head.
“It’s okay.”
I lowered my hand for a moment to slowly wipe the tears flowing down the child’s face.
“It’s okay.”
Seeing how my blank expression likely wouldn’t help the kid stop crying, I tried my best to smile.
The result? Well, it seemed to work.
“…Yeah.”
The kid stopped crying.
Somehow, the little one’s face flushed, but it seemed, being a boy, they were embarrassed to show tears.
And thus, the silence resumed.
I felt like I was going to die from the awkwardness of this situation, but my softened heart made me add.
“Go ahead and eat.”
“Yeah….”
The little one sighed in relief when I wasn’t looking, pointed outside to the bear I hunted.
The expression on the kid’s face upon seeing the bear I caught was one of shock. They looked like they were trying to understand what they were seeing.
“…Food?”
Then the kid alternated gazes between me and the bear, their expression growing even more serious.
“Phew.”
I could almost hear what the kid was thinking, and a chuckle escaped me.
They were probably wondering, ‘How on earth did this little girl catch such a large bear?’
If I were in their shoes, I’d probably think the same.
Feeling a bit proud of myself, I shrugged my shoulders and said to the kid looking up at me.
“That’s my ‘own’ catch, so don’t hesitate. Eat as much as you like.”
The kid frowned for a moment, then pointed shakily at the bear.
“Um… this…?”
“Yeah.”
Seeing their eyes widening in surprise, it seemed they were impressed by the size of the catch.
“Raw… um…?”
“Hmm?”
For some reason, the kid slipped in a ‘yo,’ which I assumed was a formal ending, but I didn’t bother to dwell on it.
Instead, I tilted my head, confused about what was wrong, and turned toward where the kid was pointing.
“Oh, right.”
Only then did I realize why the kid was acting that way.
‘You can’t eat it raw, can you?’
It was my small mistake.
Due to living in the mountains, there were no seasonings like salt or sugar, and since I didn’t know how to cook, I just grilled the meat over a fire.
Still, the kid didn’t have any complaints and eagerly ate the food I had given.
No matter how hungry they were after several days, eating the whole bear alone was unrealistic, yet I expected that they’d set the meat down after a while.
However, taking a glance at me, the little one sported a determined expression and picked the meat back up.
It looked like they intended to eat it all.
‘Why is the little one acting like this?’
I tilted my head and wondered.
Is there a tradition in this kid’s hometown where you can’t refuse food offered by someone else?
‘…Nah.’
There’s no way such a tradition exists.
I flicked my hand to the little one trying to eat again, gently opening my mouth.
“If you’re full, you don’t have to force yourself to eat.”
Right after my words finished, the kid quickly put the meat down and nodded.
‘…How much did you not want to eat?’
Anyway, now that the little one’s meal was done…
Isn’t it about time to ask who they are?
I had no other intentions; I should know their name and where they live in order to send them home.
As I waited for the right moment to ask…
“Um….”
The kid opened their mouth first, catching me off guard.
“Hmm? Why do you call for me?”
“…Is the witch going to eat me?”
“What?”
Eat you? Me? Who?
More importantly, is there really a witch here?
“Are you saying I’m going to eat you?”
I furrowed my brows in disbelief as I leaned forward toward the little one’s face.
…They probably really mean it.
“Yes….”
“Why would I eat you? Besides, I’m not a witch.”
Even though I vehemently denied it, the kid seemed to still struggle to accept my words, stubbornly asking again.
“But… you said you caught a muscle bear… who else but a witch could…”
‘In a mountain said to be rich in magic, why on earth does a witch live alone in a hut?’ The little one muttered that to the end.
It was utterly absurd to me.
First of all, I can’t even use magic. A witch, me?
“…Hick.”
Seeing the little one hunched up nervously was quite amusing.
Seeing them made me feel a sudden urge to play around.
Maybe it’d be better to show them rather than just tell them, to prove to this suspicious little one.
Plus, it’d be a good way to check my own skills.
Without saying a word, I smiled and stood up, grabbing the wooden sword next to the leftover meat.
It was a bit rough around the edges since I carved it myself, but it was wieldable.
“Did you say witch?”
I gripped the wooden sword with both hands, closed my eyes, and added.
“Rather than silly magic, let me show you something cooler.”
Somehow, I could understand what it feels like to play with a kid as an uncle.
“Watch carefully with those two eyes.”
With a bit more strength than my usual practice, I began to slice through the air with the sword.
My gaze was directed towards the sky.
*
“Beautiful.”
The kid watched, entranced, the mesmerizing moves of her swordsmanship.
Although her body moved gracefully while holding the dancing sword as if it were light as a feather, the wind generated from the tip of the sword cut through the air with power, proving that it was anything but light.
The kid was so mesmerized by her beauty that they couldn’t take their eyes off her until she finished her dance with the sword.
“Ah…”
I guess time flows quickly when you’re witnessing something beautiful, huh?
‘I wanted to see more.’
Just as the kid swallowed their small disappointment, she finished her sword dance, lowered her weapon, and slowly opened her eyes.
Soon, leaves began to gather beneath her feet, and before long, an unrecognizable shape began to form.
‘What could heaven be…? Is it an ancient script?’
While the kid’s mind was captivated by that, the mysterious girl suddenly squatted down in front of the kid and asked.
“How about it? Do I still look like a witch?”
“No….”
The little one shook their head, face flushed by her radiant smile.
Her a witch? The witch they knew was nothing like this beautiful girl.
‘So what is her true identity?’
Various thoughts raced through the kid’s mind, yet they couldn’t pin down her identity.
A suspiciously old hut, yet a young-looking woman lived alone.
Moreover, she was stunningly beautiful and possessed extraordinary strength.
In the kid’s understanding, the only fit for all this would be a witch.
However, she wielded a dazzling sword rather than using dark magic.
As someone completely clueless, the kid had no means to comprehend her true identity.
“So, what does she do…?”
So, just like always, unable to hold their curiosity, they asked her directly.
“Hmm… who am I?”
She seemed to think for a moment before going, “Hmmm” and then stretched her hand towards the sky, proclaiming.
“My name is Cheon Ha-rang. The one who will ring the bell of the heavens.”
The kid, absolutely enchanted by her, gazed at Cheon Ha-rang’s smile, which was as beautiful as the sword dance.
